VMRC tables aquaculture proposal

The Virginia Marine Resources Commission tabled a proposal Tuesday to create more than a dozen aquaculture opportunity zones, including five zones off Mathews shore and four off Gloucester shore.

John Bull, commission spokesman, said the commission tabled the matter because the Virginia General Assembly is considering a bill introduced by Sen. Ralph Northam (D-Norfolk) that would repeal the law that requires VMRC to establish the zones.

The commission will put the matter on hold until at least the end of the current General Assembly session, Bull said, and the earliest VMRC would reconsider the matter would be March.

Under the proposal, any Virginia resident can apply for use of up to five acres of any opportunity zone, Bull said, and approved applications cannot be transferred to another resident without the written consent of the commissioner.